Welsh politicians have reaffirmed their desire to consider rent controls in the PRS while announcing plans to crack down on the holiday let sector.

Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price (main pic, right) suggested rent controls could be on the table when the long-awaited but now delayed Renting Homes (Wales) Act White Paper is presented in the Senedd this Autumn.

The idea first came up last year when the country's two main political parties formed a '�lite' coalition and revealed an ambition to collaborate on such a policy.

Together with First Minister, Labour's Mark Drakeford (main pic, left), Price announced a cap on the number of second and holiday homes and a statutory licensing scheme as well as bringing in measures to put more homes into common ownership.

During a press conference, he said they had already flagged up the idea of intervening in the private sector.

He added: 'I think these are absolutely key questions, even before the current cost of living crisis.

"That's a discussion that we need to have and we will be having in the context of the white paper and these broader questions about how we respond nationally, not just in communities that are facing the crisis of second homes.'�

Drakeford said the new measures to address the second homes crisis could also be used to improve conditions for renters in the private rental market.

Better standard

'These measures have to be seen in the wider context of the measures that we are taking to make private sector rented properties particularly of a better standard, and to address affordability issues there, too,'� he added.

In its Shadow White Paper '� The Future of Private Renting in Wales '� the NRLA opposes rent controls and asserts that the best way to improve the affordability of private rented housing is to address the supply shortage.

"It is also calling for reforms to Rent Smart Wales to improve enforcement against rogue and criminal landlords.